The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1887-05-25
Some of the Strange Creatures of
the Alaska Seas.


All sides of this enchanting I'm
alaschka Island are deeply indented by
bays and fiords. Reefs and rocks,
sunken and awash, extend seward in
southerly direction to long distances,
churned necessarily by the heavy bill
lows which break upon them; but
around the northern and eastern mar
gins more good harbors are claimed
than for all the other islands of the
Aleutian Archipelago put together
In these sheltered channels and inlets,
as well as in the raceways of the outly-
ing reefs, fish in great variety resort
cod, herring, halibut, salmon, trout and
many other edible kinds, feeding upon
the surf washings and the scOurings of
the ocean bottoms which are carried in
by the winds and tides. And stranger
forms of marine life are there in eX-
traordinary presentation, weird, I'M
couth and rapacious; some hideous
with tentacles, claws, spines and serried
teeth, and others charged with bat
electrical < creatures devilish in
temper and base in motive, who lurk
among the weeds and alga which cling
to the rocks, or forage stealthily among
the RATS of kelp drifting with the tide.
In such an uncanny range as this one
variety of the sea-serpent makes his
home and thrives, holding his own
against all corners. In haunts like this
he takes on fat and grows apace. l do
not know that he ever attains to the
magnitude of those pelagic rangers
which are sometimes encountered in
the high seas, or, indeed, that he
aspres to, but he often measures a
dozen feet in length, which is big
enough snake to convince the most in
credulous. Prototypes of the creature
exist in considerable numbers. Their
customary range is off shore among the
sunken reefs where the rock-cod resort,
which is their favorite food; but they
are occasionally entangled in the ropy
sea-weeds which fringe the landwash,
in which dilemma the natives do not
hesitate to wade in behind them and
drive them up on ashore, stunning
them with clubs. In this way the
specimen before us was caught. He
measured six feet long and ten inches
thick. The capture was made on June
Is, 1886, and a drawing was executed
while the creature was still squirming
by S. Rapinsky, a creole missionary
teacher at Ilinlink, but unfortunately
the serpent itself was not preserved.
AS shown in the portrait, he seemed a
most extraordinary mOngrel, manifestly
much more of fish than an eel appears
to be, or even cutlass fish (Trichinures
leptuwuS), for he has visible gills and
opercles, fine scales, two spinous fins
on his back and the caudal of true
oh 10 hoe cleo inn, mir of
pectorals for balancing himself and a
full complement of fins to promote loco
motion, to say nothing of an abnormal
third korsal which is adipose! Also he
has long, sharp teeth for holding his
prey, and dentated vomer for masti-
cation. Nevertheless, the tout en-
Semble is altogether suggestive of
snakes. Whether he is less a snake
than those more formidable monsters
which navigators encounter on the
broad ocean, or those which summer
saunterers discover in Seneca lake or
the Hudson river, capture of the
latter alone can determine. In color
he was most beautiful, the entire length
of his sides being iridescent with pur-
pie and golden reflections, while crimson
and yellow splashes crossed the lateral
line at regular intervals from head to
tail There can be no doubt that this
specimen was true fish, with an elon-
gated body. The tendency to regard
everything vermiform or sinuous as a
snake and everything serpentine as a
reptile has invested certain mysterious
denizens of the deep with snake
like attributes; but whether they are
more serpent than fish or more
reptilian than the undulating speci-
mems of Unalaschka is what scientists
would be delighted to discover. As we
find analogous in nature all creation
through, it is reasonable to infer that
there are true serpents in the sea as wei
as on the land, and that there are fish
as well with serpent forms. Whether
this great ophidian of the ancient and
modern mariner be fish or reptile, he il
doubtless predatory and therefore tC
be feared and avoided. Inasmuch as
we instinctively associate serpent'
with evil, we should, perhaps, prefer tt
regard him as a fish, and therefore of {
kindlier nature, yet we do not FORGE
that creature much less scaly inflicted
ineffable and lasting misery on man
For the sketch which l am able to give
/ am indebted to Rev. Sheldon Jackson
United States general agent of educa
ton in Alaska, who first called my at
tention to it, saying that he intended
to present it to the Smithsonian In
stitution.-CharleS Hallock, IN ForeS
and Stream.